I first saw this bike about ten years ago, being ridden by a mate. It looked great with it's bold red colour and Marlboro livery. Little did I know that nearly a decade later - I'd be the one bringing it back to its former glory. There are a lot of things going for this bike. It was last registered in 2011, but rego was not renewed in 2012. With just over just 42,000 Km on the clock, it's been in a garage collecting dust since late 2011. All through it's storage time, it has been sitting idle, neglected and not started once. Mechanically, It seemed sound. From the service history I was given when I picked up the bike, which covers from 2005 onwards, and the last 26,000 Km, it's always been well maintained, only had two owners, and by all accounts, has been very reliable. Some basic checks when I got it into my garage revealed that Coolant was still green, and only a bit of rust was apparent in the bottom of the coolant recovery tank. Engine oil and filter when emptied were surprisingly clean as well - I was starting to think that it may have been serviced just prior to it being mothballed, and a deeper analysis of the service history told me that it had done just 3,000 Km since it's last oil, filter and coolant change before put into storage... The air filter was pristine, and the fuel filter looked brand new. There was still brake fluid in both reservoirs, brake pressure held and both front and back brake pads look like they have heaps of pad left. It wasn't leaking any fluid onto my garage floor, which is always a good sign. The main problems were always going to be the fuel tank that rattled when empty - what looked to be what was left of a tank re-seal job gone wrong, and the carbies.. Eight years of inactivity, not being drained or prepared before storage was always going to be a challenge. After removing the spark plugs and pouring some engine oil in the cylinders for a day or so I felt like I was in a position to try and turn it over.. A new battery gave the electrical system some life and amazingly, everything electrical apart from one blinker (which was disconnected) worked first go! With the spark plugs still out, and some rag positioned and ready to catch the ejected oil, I hit the starter button and it it turned over effortlessly.. Plugs back in - dodgy gravity fed fuel tank set up with some new fuel hose and a new filter, and let see if this starts. It tried and tried and tried.. nothing.. A bit of Aerostart into the airbox and it kicked! A fine adjustment to the choke and it was running! Happy days.. of course, it would idle roughly, and then stall. It wouldn;t run without the choke, and I was unable to get a rev out of it - which I put down to the carbies being gunked up. At least it goes! That's where I am at the moment. I'm currently getting the carbies cleaned and rebuilt, and the fuel tank has been thoroughly de-rusted, cleaned and re-sealed. I might be able to get this back on the road with a minimum of fuss. Once it's registered and rideable, I'll get a good sense of what I need to do next. New tyres, wheel bearings, brakes, forks, compression tests, valve clearances and some fairing repairs are all on the list of things to do in the next few months.
Nice. Would suggest looking at the steering head bearings as well. If it had the original 3ln6 carbs on it, the needles/tubes should not wear, unlike the previous models. Valve clearances are a must on these older bikes, they often get ignored until the valves are so tight there's no compression.
Did u check the engine number here to confirm its a 6? https://www.2fiftycc.com/index.php?...0-3ln-bodywork-frame-engine-carburetors.3469/ This is the correct front sprocket for the later models ... if u do chain and sprockets https://litetek.co/Sprocket_Drive_Yamaha_FZR250_3LN3.html Another thing to check is the EXUP https://www.2fiftycc.com/index.php?...-powervalve-information-and-maintenance.1099/
Welcome and look forward to seeing it up and running. Here is @Linkin 's 3LN6 project. https://2fiftycc.com/index.php?threads/linkins-fzr250-3ln6.2869/ Not trying to plug myself, really, but be wary of trusting just anyone to do your carb rebuild. Cheers Blair
Welcome to the Forum... It is a really nice feeling when you check for matching numbers and they are... to a large extent that means it hasnt been massively butchered.. unlike some FZR's around.
I'd welcome some comments regarding these findings.. It's a single headlight unit. Only one bulb in the rectangular headlight enclosure.. I've seen lots of photos with the rectangular shaped headlight enclosure and two bulbs. Never one.. Has someone had a hack at this? Interestingly, directly behind the single headlight bulb, the vertical steel frame tubing has been cut taken out (badly). I think I just answered my own question there... This bike hasn't got a fuel pump. I can see the connections into the wiring harness where it's supposed to go.. Is this an issue on the 3LN6, or should it be ok? Thanks! Appreciate all the comments..
The headlight's were usually swapped out for TDR850 light's, (think 1999 XJ600 are the same also?) they're a direct swap over mounting wise for the original twin projector FZR light's but yes the upper fairing support frame need's trimming. I think it might have been an ADR thing ? My 3LN3 has had the same thing done I would be getting a fuel pump if i was you, you don't want it running lean at high rpm's. Some racer's do run their FZR's without the fuel pump's though.
Single bulb headlight also out of a TRX850. Yes it's an ADR thing as the spec is a 55/60W bulb. CBR's and ZXR's use 35/60W bulbs so no idea how they slipped through compliance like that. Sounds like your front subframe might be a 3LN1 item which has been hacked to fit the later fairing. They will gravity feed without a fuel pump, but you won't get the full amount out of reserve.
Thanks everyone for the continued information. It's great. In the past few weeks, the carbies have been totally rebuilt, with new jets, needles, seats and seals throughout. Once back on the bike, it started first go.. Apart from a twitch as soon as you start to rev it, it revs cleanly. I haven't taken it over about 6000 RPM just yet, early days. Currently waiting for the fuel tank sealant to dry before I put it all back together and get it registered. A couple of notes. It starts almost immediately from cold without any choke.. I'm thinking it's running a bit rich I might need to wind back the mixture screws a bit. Once it's running, cylinder 4 runs a cooler than the others.. I'm yet to do a carby sync or valve clearances. Hopefully that should fix that issue. On fuel - what does everyone suggest? Am I going to get any benefit from running 98 Octane in this (98 makes a world of difference in my 20 year old Prado). Would 98 make it run too hot or be detrimental in some other way? I was going to avoid E10 for sure (unless someone tells me otherwise). Thanks again guys. Really appreciate the feedback.
I run my 1990 FZR250R 3LN3 on 98, i've never had a problem with it. I reckon with the engine having 12/1 compression it does help What carby kit's are in it now ? My 3LN3 with Keysterkit's through the carb's like's to run with the mixture screw's set at 1.75 turn's out, it also need's full choke to start when cold A slight hesitation off idle could be the float height's, the factory setting is a baseline, you can go up to 1mm higher or lower The float level and mixture screw's are the main thing's when sorting out hesitation's if your plug's, lead's and coil's are good. Have you double checked that the fuel level's are sitting at 10,5mm above the line on the outside of the fuel bowl's ? Just use some clear pvc hose, slide it over the drain at the bottom of the bowl and run the hose up and over the top of the airfilter. Turn the fuel pump on and off a few time's so the bowl's are full, then loosen the fuel bowl drain screw a few turn's The fuel will flow into the hose and then you should be able to see how high it get's, measure it against the line across the middle of the fuel bowl.
Well, It's passed rego! Front and rear wheel bearings, and steering head bearings are all good. Valve clearances are within spec, so that's great news as well. New tyres and a carby tune / sync coming up later in the week which hopefully fix the rough running issue and the cylinder head temp issue on Cylinder 4. So a few questions.. Looking at sourcing a fuel pump for it - original part is 3YX-13907-01-00, and interestingly enough, this comes up as a part from an XJ900 and several Yamaha marine engines.. Anyone had success in obtaining one of these within Australia? Prices vary wildly from near $500 to $90 delivered.. Also starting to think about the fairings and a windscreen. I've read a lot about the Aliexpress options for custom ABS fairing kits, but do we have any local options? Any tips on that front would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.